The BSF’s all Woman Bikers’ Contingent Made History on Republic Day

As is always the case, India’s 69th Republic Day was filled with gleaming illustrations of India’s defence prowess, its enviable spirit of unity in diversity, and its unquestionable sense of patriotism. It was also a day when history was made by the BSF all-woman bikers’ contingent. Ranging in age between 25 and 30 and personally handpicked by BSF trainers, these immensely skilled women (collectively known as ‘Seema Bhawani’) pulled off 16 varied stunts during the Republic Day parade, leaving audiences at Rajpath, and around the country, awestruck and spellbound.

The team was created at the Central School of Motor Transport of the BSF Academy on 20th October 2016 and in less than two years, was trained enough to perform death-defying stunts with accuracy, proficiency and grace. What makes this feat even more special is the fact that most of these women are married, some even have children and almost all of them didn’t even know how to ride a bike before they were chosen to be a part of the squad. Riding on their 350cc Royal Enfield Bullets and led by sub-inspector Stanzin Noryang, these BSF women have given us all yet another reason to be immensely proud of our border security forces, all the while making a powerful statement about how Indian women see themselves as being equal to their male counterparts in 2018.

Traditionally, it’s always either the Army or the BSF’s male bikers who end the Republic Day parade, but this was the first time ever that a woman contingent of the Border Security Forces performed such spectacular stunts to end the parade. Some of those stunts included Salute to the President, Saptarishi, Peacock, Fish Riding and Mobile PT. Needless to say, the women were the highlight of the day, and keeping in mind the fact that they ended up drawing the largest applause from the crowds, something tells me this won’t be the last time we’ll be seeing the inspiring women of Seema Bhawani performing these stunts.

While some might choose to look at the death-defying acrobatic stunts that were performed by these women as a gimmick, it’s actually yet another manifestation of an inspiring trend we’ve seen at display in the last few months. After all, it was only a few months ago that Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as India’s Defence Minister (thereby becoming only the second woman to hold that integral post). While other countries are still struggling to put women in positions of leadership (the United States is yet to elect a female president), India is not shying away from showing its women (and the women of the world!) that they are not only capable of shattering the glass ceiling, but are also breaking female stereotypes. Add to this the recent Supreme Court judgement against triple talak (a case that Muslim women had brought and fought for in the Supreme Court), and it becomes clear that women are no longer going to tolerate discrimination, sexism or misogyny.